


Better Run Through the Jungle

by Spaceman130



Series: Falling Rain, Spilling Blood [8]
Category: Futurama
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 03:10:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10179347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaceman130/pseuds/Spaceman130
Summary: Fry, Leela, Bender and Hermes are stranded on Amazonia with no ammunition to help them survive.  Their solution: hijack a command vehicle belonging to a team of superhuman soldiers who want them dead.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on mission 20 in Vampire Rain.

Fry, Leela, Bender and Hermes sat inside their command vehicle, parked next to a small mountain on Amazonia. Except for the rain pattering against the command vehicle's roof and Hermes's fingers tapping against the computer keys, it was dead silent. No one spoke a word.

Fry looked over at Leela. She had a glum expression on her face as she repeatedly tapped the barrel of a handgun against the back of one hand. Like all of the team's guns, her handgun contained no rounds.

The team of soldiers had expended all of their ammunition in a battle against a large group of Amazonian women that had become nightwalkers, as well as Margaret Attwill, the third of the four prime walkers. With one prime walker left to destroy and no firepower to do it, Fry and his teammates were desperate to get their hands on any weapons and ammo they could possibly find.

Hermes had been working on the computer, trying to figure out a way they could get more ammunition. Now he had just stumbled onto something.

"Sweet zombie Jesus! Everyone come look at this!" Hermes exclaimed to his teammates. He pointed at one of the flat screen computer monitors.

Fry, Leela and Bender turned their attention to the monitor. It displayed an overhead view of a large clearing somewhere on Amazonia. A black delivery van, marked with a glowing orange dot on the screen, sat parked in one end of the clearing.

"Remember those strange soldiers we fought back in New New York?" Hermes asked the crew.

"Yeah, I remember those loser chumps! Freakin' assholes!" Bender said grumpily.

Fry and Leela nodded. A chill ran down Fry's back as he recalled the squad of eerie, inhuman soldiers he and his teammates had battled back in their home city. While they managed to destroy all of the soldiers, they had barely escaped with their lives.

"What about 'em?" Bender asked.

"That's their command vehicle," Hermes explained, pointing at the glowing dot. "They set up a base not far from where we're parked right now."

"Tell us again why I should give a rat's patootie," Bender said as if he couldn't care less.

"If we stole their command vehicle, it would take away any advantage they have against us," Hermes replied.

Fry could see Hermes's point. But as he stared at the monitor, he noticed that several members of the special attack team were shown standing guard in various places all over the clearing.  
  
"How are we supposed to steal it if those guys are standing all around it?" Fry asked.

"We'll have to find a way to sneak in," Hermes answered. "Once we do that, we'll destroy their transmitter and steal their weapons. Then, neither them nor the nightwalkers will be able to stop us."

"Let's take some action!" Leela cried.  
  
Fry put on a fake smile and nodded in agreement. The truth was, he didn't like the plan one bit. Without any ammunition, he and his teammates were completely defenseless against their enemies, and if they were caught, they'd be done for.

"Okay then," Hermes said. "Let's go."

With that, the four soldiers stood up and stepped out of the command vehicle into the pouring rain.

Fry felt another chill as the cool raindrops drizzled over his head, wetting his hair and running down his face. He raised a gloved hand and wiped the rainwater off his face.

The chill was only partly from the cold rain, however. It was mainly from knowing that he was heading straight into danger.

Every time he and his teammates left the warm, safe inside of the command vehicle, they put their lives in jeopardy.

Knowing that he was going into Amazonia with no weapons to save his skin, Fry felt like he was on the ultimate suicide mission.

Hermes began to lead the way toward a hill cut into the middle of one of the mountains. Before proceeding, he turned back to his teammates to give them one last briefing before heading out.

"We'll head for a place where we can see where our enemies' transmissions are coming from," Hermes explained. "Since we have no ammo, we'll have to avoid any enemy encounters until we get some weapons from the opposition's command vehicle. Now come on, mon!"

Hermes began jogging toward the hill. Bender and Leela took off after him, while Fry reluctantly followed them.

The four of them climbed over a wall of rock that was as tall as themselves, then made their way up to the top of the hill.

Twenty seconds later, the four soldiers found themselves on top of a thirty foot high cliff overlooking a large clearing. It was the clearing where the squad of enemy EIB soldiers had set up their base.

Hermes, Leela and Bender looked down and studied the base down below. Afraid of heights, Fry looked away, then took a curious peep at it.

"Look at it already!" Bender snapped at Fry. "Don't you want to kick some ass?"

Fry forced himself to stare down at the base. He, along with his teammates, noticed the soldiers' command vehicle parked in one corner of the base. It was a black hover van disguised as a delivery van.

"There's the EIB command vehicle," Leela pointed out.

"That's right," Hermes replied. "Too bad there's sentries all around it."

Hermes was right. There were at least half a dozen enemy soldiers walking around different parts of the clearing, guarding the base.

Fry activated the telescopic view on his headset and zoomed in to take a closer look at the soldiers. They looked like the same soldiers they had fought back in New New York — all wearing the same all-black uniforms and gas masks.

"We have to go through this again?" Fry complained. "Why did I ever sign up for this?"

Zooming in on one of the soldiers, Fry saw the details that gave the soldiers their inhuman appearances. They each had visible auras similar to those of nightwalkers, auras that made the air around their bodies appear distorted. Fry also saw that the soldiers had glowing red dots behind the eye holes on their gas masks.

Most of the soldiers carried assault rifles. But the one standing closest to the command vehicle, Fry saw, toted an anti-materiel rifle — a large, incredibly deadly-looking gun that resembled a sniper rifle with a scope and a very long, slender barrel.

Just looking at the gun made Fry want to book it back to his team's command vehicle.

"Sweet committees of Carson City, we need to get down to their level," Hermes said.

"Step aside, let a robot show you who knows how!" Bender announced boastfully. He pushed Hermes out of his way and stepped toward the edge of the cliff. "I'll shoot them so hard, their asses will fly into a million pieces!"

Bender got down and hung from the cliff's edge, gripping the ledge with his metal fingers. He then extended his arms and legs until his footcups touched the ground. He let go of the ledge and retracted his limbs into his torso until they were their normal length again. He ran over to a couple of closed shipping containers arranged in an L shape and took cover behind them.

"That takes care of Rodríguez," Hermes said, frowning. "But what about us?"

Bender called Hermes. "Try jumping," he retorted.

Hermes grumbled angrily.

Leela pointed at a small dead tree at at one end of the cliff's ledge. "How about that tree?" she suggested. "We can tie our wires to them and lower ourselves down."

"I don't know. It doesn't look very strong . . ." Hermes started to reply uncertainly.

Fry also felt doubtful that Leela's idea was good. The tree wasn't much taller than Leela, and its trunk wasn't much thicker than her either. It would likely snap if Fry or any of his teammates tried to lower themselves from it.

". . . but it's our only shot," Hermes continued. "Let's try it. Once we're down, we'll make our way to our enemies' command vehicle."

"I'll go first," Leela volunteered. She walked over to the tree, which was located right above the spot where Bender was hiding.

Fry felt nervous as he watched Leela tie a wire attached to her belt tightly around the tree's slender trunk. He silently prayed that she'd make it down safely. If she did, then there was a chance that he could make it down too, since he didn't weigh much more than Leela.

Gripping the wire firmly, Leela took a few steps back, then dropped off the cliff's edge.

To Fry's relief, the tree didn't break.

He watched Leela continue to make her way down, stepping against the side of the cliff as she descended.

She had made it almost halfway down when Fry heard a snap.

Startled by the sudden noise, Fry turned his gaze from Leela to the tree. His face twisted in horror when he saw that the entire top of the tree had broken off, leaving only a stump planted in the ground.

Looking back down at Leela, he saw her mouth form an O of surprise as she fell the rest of the way down. She landed hard on her backside in front of Bender.

Fry called Leela. "Are you okay, Leela?" he asked into his mike, his voice full of concern.

"Yeah," she replied in a slightly pained voice.

Hermes called Leela. "Keep it down, Turanga," he warned. "There's a couple of soldiers heading your way."

Looking away from Leela and Bender, Fry saw two patrolling enemy soldiers running in the direction of the containers. Neither of the soldiers seemed to be aware that Leela or Bender were behind the containers, but that would change if either of them failed to remain silent and hidden.

"Looks like Turanga and Rodríguez are trapped," Hermes said to Fry. "We'll have to help them out. See that container down there?" He pointed to a shipping container placed far away at the other side of the clearing.

Fry looked in the direction that Hermes was pointing and focused his sight on the container. Its doors were open. Fry magnified the telescopic view on his headset so he could get a better look inside the container. Inside he could see a big stockpile of firearms and ammo of many types. There were handguns, assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, and even anti-materiel rifles.

"You mean that one with all the guns?" Fry asked.

"Yes. It's further away, but if we go around the inside of the mountain, we can get in there and fight those soldiers. Come on, mon!" Hermes took off running toward a stone wall that was about as tall as himself and Fry combined.

Fry followed Hermes. When both of them had reached the wall, Hermes crouched down and held his hands out to Fry. "I'll help you up," he offered.

"Why do I have to go first?" Fry whined.

"You weigh less than me!" Hermes cried in an exasperated voice. "You weigh less than all of us, you empty-headed demented fool!"

Fry placed one foot on Hermes's hands. Hermes lifted Fry up. Fry jumped up and grabbed the top of the wall with both hands. With a grunt of effort, he pulled himself up on top of the wall. He then reached down and took hold of Hermes's hands. Straining harder, he managed to pull Hermes up onto the wall.

Fry dropped down onto the ground past the wall. He expected Hermes to come down with him. Instead, Hermes stayed put on top of the wall.

"Aren't you coming with me?" Fry asked, sounding disappointed.

"I'm going to stay here and monitor Turanga and Rodríguez," Hermes replied. "I'll follow you as soon I'm certain they're safe. You go on ahead." He then turned around and began to keep watch on Leela and Bender's situation.

Fry turned away from Hermes and groaned. _Alone again_ , he thought glumly as the rain beat down on him.

Fry examined his surrounding area. He was in a small clearing. Up ahead, he saw a glimmer of hope — a large weapons crate.

Fry ran up to the crate and eagerly opened it, hoping it contained some big, powerful guns he could use against his enemies.

Peering inside, Fry was relieved that the crate did contain weapons, but they weren't the guns he was hoping for. Instead, the crate contained a number of ultraviolet knives. Fry counted six.

The knives would at least be helpful for taking out enemies that he could sneak up behind and attack if he had the chance.

"Since I have to do this myself . . ." Fry muttered to himself after adding the UV knives to his belt. Looking around, he saw that there were two ledges he could go down — one to the left and one to the right.

Fry chose the one to the left. After dropping down, he turned right — and froze when he saw something that filled him with dread.

Not very far from where Fry was standing was a huge, twelve foot tall Amazonian woman. She had short black hair and wore a fur bikini top, a long grass skirt, and sandals with short heels.

Fry wished his teammates were with him. "That's just like the others to make me go alone and lead me to my death," he mumbled under his breath. "They'll hear about this later!"

Fry flipped on his necrovision and studied the Amazonian. She had a reddish-orange glow which indicated that she was a nightwalker.

Fry's heart sank. It wasn't bad enough that he was alone facing giant women who hated men and punished them by having sex with them until they died. Now these women had become vampires that could instantly rip him to shreds if they caught him.

Fortunately for Fry, the woman had her back turned to him. There was even a weapons crate sitting on the ground right behind her.

Knowing what he had to do in this situation, Fry crouched down and began heading toward the woman. As he did, she walked a bit to the left and then turned her back again.

Now was Fry's chance.

Moving slowly and carefully, Fry crept toward the woman, praying that she wouldn't hear him. His nervousness intensified as the distance between them became shorter and shorter.

When he was right behind her, Fry pulled one of the UV knives from his belt. As he did, its blade lit up with a light blue glow. Fry felt the ultraviolet energy radiating from the blade. Then he swiftly sank the scorching hot blade into the woman's beefy leg.

The Amazonian uttered an inhuman cry of pain as the ultraviolet energy coursed through her body, burning up her insides. She then fell facedown on the ground and melted into a huge puddle of acid.

Satisfied that he had taken out the Amazonian, Fry turned back and opened the crate that the woman had been standing in front of.

To his disappointment, it was empty.

Fry tried to reassure himself that he was going to be all right . . . if none of his enemies saw him.

Not wanting to get burned, Fry walked around the wide acid puddle and continued down the path. Two mountainous walls stood on either side.

As he neared the opening between the two walls, he saw another weapons crate sitting on the ground up ahead.

Fry ran over to it and started to try to open it.

But before he could, he heard a deep woman's voice call out "Who there?"

Terrified, Fry ducked behind the crate. His mind raced with panicked thoughts.

_It's over. I'm boned like there's no tomorrow._

Fry remained as silent as he could and listened hard. He could almost hear the pounding of his own heart through the steadily pouring rain.

He heard a rumble of thunder in the distance.

_Not only am I near death, I've got to hear thunder too?_ Fry thought.

Then, to his horror, he heard footsteps slowly coming his way. They were very heavy and loud, as though something enormous was making them.

Fry trembled in fear as the footsteps came closer and closer. He knew that in a few moments, he would be caught — and then brutally killed.

The footsteps stopped several feet away from the crate.

Fry shut his eyes tight and waited to be clawed to death.

Several seconds passed. Nothing happened. Except for the rain pouring against the ground, it was dead silent.

Then, Fry heard the loud, pounding footsteps again. This time, though, they were moving slowly away from him.

Fry opened his eyes and peeked over the crate. He saw an Amazonian woman with long red hair that flowed down her back. She wore a helmet with long white horns protruding from either side and brown fur boots. She had her back turned to Fry and was walking toward a stone tower with stairs leading up one side.

Fry felt a wave of relief wash over him as he realized that hiding behind the crate had just saved his skin.

Regaining his nerve, he moved out from behind the crate and looked at his surroundings, trying to decide where he should go.

To his right was the Amazonian he had narrowly avoided with her back turned. He could knife her and then explore the tower.

To his left was a path with a large bush at the end of it. The bush was on the edge of a ledge that he could drop down from.

_This is tough_ , Fry thought. _Leela and Bender always made these decisions for me._

A sudden crash of lightning startled Fry and forced him to move. Not wanting to risk being seen again by the Amazonian, he darted toward the bush and slipped past it.

Fry dropped down from the ledge into another clearing and studied it. In the northwest corner was a huge stone building. In the clearing, there was a tree, some large, round rocks, and another bush. Past the rocks and the bush, Fry could see another Amazonian woman. She was walking to the right toward a long, straight path.

Fry ran over to the bush and hid behind it. Then he peeked out from the right side of the bush to observe the Amazonian.

She had light brown skin and dark purple hair styled with a bone. She wore a purple dress-like garment torn at the edges and high-heeled shoes with straps. She took a few steps into the long path and stared out at it for several seconds. Then she turned around and started walking back.

Fry quickly ducked behind the bush and out of the woman's sight. He listened to her loud, heavy footsteps as she walked to the left past the bush.

When Fry was certain he was out of the woman's earshot, he got out from behind the bush and ran past her while her back was turned to him.

Fry then ended up on a path with two routes that he could take. Far up ahead, he could see an Amazonian walking around. To the right was a bridge made of big rocks that he could duck under.

Without a second thought, Fry took the route to the right and went down underneath the rocky bridge. The rocks came down so low that Fry had to crouch to fit underneath them.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake.

Terrified, Fry hid under the bridge, trembling.

Fry knew what the ground shaking meant on this planet. It meant more Amazonians were coming.

From what he could hear, it sounded like more than just one Amazonian.

Fry heard loud, booming footsteps again. Only this time they were very rapid, meaning that whatever was coming was running instead of walking.

An icy chill ran down Fry's back when he heard the breathing of nightwalkers in addition to the fast, thundering footsteps.

The noises were distant at first. But as Fry listened, he realized they were coming closer and closer, and in his direction.

In seconds, the noises became so deafening that Fry couldn't even hear the rain over them. He covered his ears with his hands in an attempt to drown the noises out.

Fry was petrified. His body shook hard. His heart beat rapidly against his chest.

Fry wanted to run for it, but he forced himself to stay hidden under the bridge. He waited, desperately praying that the creatures wouldn't find him.

Then a pair of enormous feet in heels stomped the ground in front of him.

Fry struggled to keep from screaming.

The Amazonian, in nightwalker form, tore down the path ahead of Fry. Two more Amazonians, also nightwalkers, followed after her. They leapt down past the rock bridge one at a time and stormed after their leader. Seconds later, they disappeared around a curve in the path. Their inhuman breathing faded off into the distance, and the ground became still again.

Fry breathed a sigh of relief. _Missed me by that much_ , he thought, tremendously grateful that the creatures hadn't caught him.

Fry held his ground and waited for his heartbeat to slow down to normal. Then he crawled out from under the bridge, stood up, and looked at the path.

The path curved slightly to the left. Fry walked cautiously down it, afraid of running into more danger.

"Slowly I turn . . . step by step . . . inch by inch . . ." he whispered nervously as he went.

Only seconds later, the path ended at a ledge not far above the ground below. Fry dropped off the ledge and landed down on the level below. It was a small clearing with a tree in the middle of it. Up ahead to the left, he saw a stone wall that was low enough for him to climb up.

Fry ran up to the wall, jumped up, and grabbed the top of it with his fingers. He then pulled himself up to the top.

When Fry was on top of the wall, he noticed there was a gun sitting right next to where he was standing. His eyes lit up as he stared down at it for a moment.

Fry then eagerly picked up the firearm and examined it in his hands. It was a large pump-action shotgun with two long, sleek barrels.

A devilish smile crossed Fry's face as he admired the weapon. He knew he'd be able to do serious damage to the Amazonians with this gun.

"Time for a little firepower," Fry said mischievously. "I can say cool things too before I go into battle."

Pleased that he now had some firepower on his side, Fry climbed up another wall and ended up in a small, circular clearing.

He took a few steps forward — and then an Amazonian in nightwalker form landed in front of him and began to charge at him furiously, her fangs bared and her claws outstretched.

Fry uttered a battle cry and raised his shotgun, ready to fight.

The Amazonian quickly closed in on Fry, rushing toward him at superhuman speed.

_She makes Speedy Gonzales look like regular Gonzales!_ Fry thought.  
  
The woman charged him so fast, Fry barely had time to aim his shotgun up at her toned stomach and pull the trigger.

The shotgun discharged with a loud bang. The Amazonian was struck in the stomach with two well-aimed shells. She uttered an inhuman-sounding death cry and fell over backwards, hitting the ground with an audible thump.

"Bullseye! Like to see Bender pull that one off!" Fry exclaimed.

As the woman's corpse melted into a huge puddle of acid, another Amazonian nightwalker dropped down into the clearing and barreled toward Fry.

_Here's another nice mess I got myself into!_ Fry thought.

Fry quickly worked the shotgun's pump, ejecting the two spent shells and loading two fresh ones into the chamber. He aimed the shotgun at the Amazonian, waited until she came close, and squeezed the trigger again.

The blast killed the Amazonian instantly. With an anguished cry, she fell limply onto her back and melted into acid.

As Fry worked the pump again, a third Amazonian nightwalker dropped into the clearing and sped toward him.

Aiming the shotgun again, Fry realized he had forgotten to check how much ammunition was in the gun before he started using it. He hoped it would have enough rounds for this battle.

"Message for you, sir," Fry said to the charging Amazonian, and he pulled the shotgun's trigger a third time.

Fortunately for Fry, the shotgun fired two more rounds into the Amazonian's belly, killing her immediately. Like the other two Amazonians Fry slew before, she let out an inhuman cry of pain as her body went slack, fell over backwards, and melted into acid.

Fry waited for more Amazonians, his adrenaline pumping from the battle. Mercifully, no more came.

Feeling relieved that he had survived the attack, Fry continued onward. To the left, he saw a ledge that he could climb onto. Another double-barreled shotgun sat on the edge of it.

Fry took the shotgun, opened it up, and counted how many rounds of ammo it contained. It had four shells. He added the shells to the shotgun he had found before. He now had a total of eight shells, enough ammo for four more shots with the gun.

Fry climbed up the ledge and found himself on a slight hill. Up ahead, an Amazonian woman was walking across the rock bridge that he had hidden under before. She had her back turned to him.

Fry thought about sneaking up behind her and stabbing her with a UV knife, but he figured that since her strides were much longer than his, he wouldn't be able to pull it off.

Instead, Fry raised his shotgun and began to run with it pointed up at the Amazonian's back.

When he was a few feet away from the woman, he heard her utter "Hmm?" as if sensing that someone was behind her.

But before she could turn around, Fry blasted her in the back.

The Amazonian let out an inhuman cry of pain before falling forward lifelessly and melting into acid.

"I'm walking on sunshine tonight!" Fry exclaimed, proud of his work.

Fry walked carefully around the enormous acid puddle and made his way across the rock bridge.

"Hurts, don't it?" he asked down to the puddle. "Go tell the others."

When he reached the other side, he turned left and found himself at the top of a sloping hill. In a flat area at the bottom, there was an Amazonian woman. She stood with her back turned just ahead of a weapons crate.

Fry didn't need to think twice about how to approach this situation. He raised his shotgun and started to move down the hill.

When he was halfway down the hill, the Amazonian took a few steps to the left, then turned her back again.

With the shotgun pointed up at the woman's back, Fry crept slowly up behind her, then fired.

The woman uttered an inhuman death scream as the two shells shot through her body. She keeled over and melted into acid.

As he cocked the shotgun, Fry couldn't believe he was actually surviving Amazonia by himself. However, he was getting low on supplies, and he needed more ammo if he was going to pull through.

Fry remembered the weapons crate behind him. He turned around and opened the crate, hoping he wouldn't be low on supplies for much longer.

_Please let the others come soon_ , Fry pleaded in his mind as he pulled the crate's lid off.

When Fry saw what was inside, his eyes lit up.

"Wooow," Fry whispered in amazement as he stared down at the enormous gun lying in the crate.

It was an anti-materiel rifle, the same gun he had seen one of the inhuman soldiers toting back when he and his teammates were overlooking their base.

The anti-materiel rifle was similar to a sniper rifle in form and appearance and was designed for use against military equipment rather than other combatants. Fry wondered how effective it would be against Amazonian nightwalkers.

Fry lifted the thirty-pound rifle out of the crate. "This is like carrying solid gold!" he said to himself. "I remember that show from the eighties. Those dancers were hot." He lugged the gun over to the edge of the clearing, where he could see multiple Amazonians in the area down below.

Fry studied the Amazonians in the area. There was one standing far ahead near the edge of a cliff.

"Perhaps I can be like Danny DeVito in _Throw Momma from the Train_ when he tried to push that woman off the boat," he whispered to himself.

Another Amazonian was walking around the area, looking around. There was a narrow area to the left between two mountains with a few large, round rocks. In it there were several more Amazonians talking among each other.

Fry opened the anti-materiel rifle and checked its magazine to make sure he had enough rounds to take out all of the Amazonians in his way.

He groaned in disappointment when he counted a meager two bullets.

_How am I going to kill all those Amazonians with only two bullets?_ Fry wondered as he loaded the bullets back into the rifle.

Then he remembered a tactic that had saved him in previous missions.

Fry flipped on his necrovision and viewed all of the Amazonians in the area. The woman standing near the edge of the cliff had a yellow aura rather than a reddish orange one like the other Amazonians had, indicating that she was a parent walker. In addition, the other Amazonians that glowed orange were connected to the yellow Amazonian by thin red lines, showing that she was the parent of all of them.

_Too bad I can't see their body heat with this_ , Fry thought.

But now that he knew which Amazonian to target, he laid down flat on his stomach with the anti-materiel rifle aimed ahead of him. He squeezed one eye shut and stared through the scope with his other. Then he zoomed in on the Amazonian woman standing far ahead in order to get a more accurate shot at her. Aiming carefully, he centered the back of the woman's head in the crosshairs. When he was sure he had her, he gripped the rifle's trigger, then pulled it.

Fry was startled by how loud the gun discharged and how hard its recoil was, but he was satisfied to see that he had scored a lethal headshot. The bullet shot through the Amazonian's skull, killing her instantly. Her body collapsed to the ground and melted into acid. As a result of their parent walker dying, all of the other Amazonians in the area keeled over and turned to acid as well.

Fry climbed to his feet, then dropped down into the area where the Amazonians had died. He ran over to the edge of the cliff where the woman he shot had been standing — and stopped suddenly when he realized it was a long way down to the ground below.

"Whoa," Fry said out loud as he stared down at the ground about twenty feet away from him. Below he could see a basketball court separated from the cliff by a long, high wall.

Fry searched for a way to get down to ground level. Looking straight down, he could see small ledges cut into the cliff, sort of like large stairs leading down.

Fry lowered himself carefully down the ledges until he reached the ground.

Once he was down, he spotted a double-barreled shotgun lying on the ground nearby.

_Yes! More ammo!_ Fry thought. He bent down and eagerly picked up the shotgun. Then he started to run forward down the narrow path between the mountain and the wall.

Fry stopped in his tracks again when he heard the dry breathing of nightwalkers coming from up ahead.

Upon hearing the breathing, Fry was immediately put on edge. His heart began to pound and the hair on the back of his neck stood up on end.

Fry raised the shotgun and aimed it up ahead, nervously waiting for his enemies to show themselves.

One Amazonian in nightwalker form rushed out from around a corner ahead and blocked Fry's path. Another Amazonian nightwalker leaped out and landed behind the first one. Both of the giant women spotted Fry and angrily charged at him like bulls, desperate to rip him apart.

"Come and get it!" Fry shouted at them, trying to sound tough despite being scared for his life.

Fry aimed the shotgun up at the first Amazonian's bare stomach and blasted her when she got close. She uttered an inhuman scream of pain and fell over dead.

As Fry cocked the shotgun, a third Amazonian burst out from around the corner and sped toward him, her clawed fingers outstretched.

Fry waited until the second Amazonian got close and then blew her away with a blast from the shotgun. As he quickly worked the pump, he noticed the third Amazonian wasn't trailing far behind the second one he had killed. He took a step back to avoid her and then shot her in her exposed stomach. The shot killed her instantly. She fell over dead and melted into a huge puddle of acid along with her friends.

The acid puddles were so big, they blocked Fry's path. He waited until they dissolved into the ground before proceeding down the path. As the puddles dissolved, he loaded the shells from the new shotgun into the one he already had. He had a total of eight shells now, enough for four more shots. Then he took off down the path.

Fry soon arrived at a wall that looked like a few big, wide stairs. Before he could climb up the steps, he heard someone approaching him from behind.

Fry turned around and was relieved to see it was Hermes. He ran toward Fry carrying an assault rifle.

"Sweet manatee of Galilee!" Hermes exclaimed in surprise. "You made it, mon!"

"About time you showed up!" Fry complained. "Don't ever leave me like that again!"

Hermes ignored Fry's complaining. "The enemy soldiers' base is just past those big steps," Hermes said. "Come on!"

Fry and Hermes climbed up the steps and found themselves at one end of the huge, open clearing where the enemy soldiers had set up their base.

Fry followed Hermes over to a nearby bush. The two of them hid behind it and spied on the soldiers patrolling the area. The security around the shipping container they were trying to get to wasn't very tight. There were only about six soldiers in the area and some of them weren't even watching over the stash of weapons.

The shipping container sat right in front of Fry and Hermes, but its doors were open on the opposite side.

"Let's wait until none of them are looking," Hermes whispered to Fry. "Then we'll —"

Before he could finish his sentence, the ground began to quake.

"Sacred cow of Moscow! What is happening?!" Hermes asked in a frightened whisper.

Fry didn't answer. He was too afraid to talk or even move a muscle.

Fry trembled as he heard loud, very rapid footsteps combined with the breathing of nightwalkers. The noises seemed to be coming from all around him, and from numerous sources.

Fry looked at his team leader to see if he was just as scared as he was. Hermes seemed to be, judging from his wide open eyes and his mouth agape in an expression of horror.

Fry and Hermes continued to hide behind the bush as the ground shook even harder. The pounding footsteps and breathing grew louder and nearer, booming in their ears.

Even though he was terrified, Fry had to see what was going on.

Forcing himself to move, Fry lifted his head up to take a peek over the bush — and gasped when he saw a dozen Amazonian nightwalkers burst from the surroundings and storm the soldiers' base.

Aware that they were under attack, the soldiers raised their guns and opened fire on the giant vampire women, pumping round after round into them as they charged.

The bullets, however, were too weak to do any significant damage to the Amazonians. In seconds, the Amazonians easily caught every soldier and slashed them to death with one swipe of their claws. The soldiers that toted assault rifles were unable to take out a single Amazonian.

At one far end of the clearing stood the soldier with the anti-materiel rifle. He was the only soldier left. Two Amazonians spotted him and began barreling toward him. The soldier aimed the rifle at one of the women and fired a round at her. The bullet struck her in the stomach and killed her instantly. She dropped dead and melted into acid.

The soldier aimed the rifle at the other charging Amazonian. But before he could pull the trigger, another Amazonian leapt down from the cliff above and landed behind him. She then reached down and slashed the soldier, killing him instantly. His body burst into flames while standing for a moment, then fell down and melted into a purple acid.

After destroying all of the soldiers, the Amazonians transformed back into their normal forms and stood around the clearing.

Fry and Hermes peered out at the Amazonians spread out around the area. There were about a dozen of them. Half of the women were stationed at one end of the clearing, near the containers where Bender and Leela were hiding. The other half stood around the container full of weapons.

Fry had no idea how he was going to destroy them all with what little ammunition he had.

"You had Bender reinspected, maybe you should reinspect my ammo," Fry said to Hermes.

"We will make like a lizard in a sugar cane and take them out, mon," Hermes whispered back.

Hermes began to make his way over to a huge tree nearby. Fry followed him to the tree and took cover behind its wide trunk. As they peered around it, they saw some vehicles parked near the Amazonians that they could use for cover.

Fry followed Hermes as he moved toward a white van. As they neared the van, Fry noticed two UV knives lying on the ground next to the vehicle. He added them to his belt for a total of seven knives.

Past the van, Fry could see two Amazonians walking around the area. The one closest to him was walking near a red pickup truck. The other was walking around the area past the pickup truck.

Fry scanned both of the Amazonians with necrovision. The one standing the farthest away was the parent of all of the Amazonians standing near the weapons container.

Fry was relieved to figure out that in order to access the weapons container, he only had to kill one of the Amazonians in order to take out all of them. But could he do it?

Fry waited until the nearest Amazonian moved out of his way. Then he left the cover of the van and brought out the anti-materiel rifle he had found earlier. Knowing it had only one bullet left, the pressure was on him to make the shot count.

Fry crouched down and stared through the rifle's scope with one eye. He aimed the gun at the Amazonian walking around the area past the pickup truck. The woman stopped to look around, her back turned to Fry.

"People always told me I was a lazy wimp," Fry murmured to himself. "Now's my chance to prove them wrong."

The fact that the woman was now standing still made Fry's job of aiming at her easier. He carefully centered the back of the woman's head in the crosshairs, then fired.

The bullet zoomed through the Amazonian's skull, killing her instantly. Her body fell forward and hit the ground with a loud thump.

With their parent walker dead, the other Amazonians standing near the weapons container died as well. They fell over lifelessly and melted into acid.

"Great shot, Fry!" Hermes congratulated his teammate. "Now let's raid the weapons container."

Fry and Hermes stepped around several large puddles of acid that had formed from the dead Amazonians as they made their way over to the open side of the weapons container.

When they had made it to the open doors, Fry and Hermes both looked inside the container. They grinned happily as they took in the sight of the piles of guns and boxes of ammunition that were now theirs.

"Sweet lamprey of Santa Fe!" Hermes exclaimed. "Look at all this ammo!"

"Now we can really kick some ass!" Fry added.

Hermes shushed Fry by uttering a sharp shhh. "Just because we have lots of ammo, it doesn't mean we don't have to be careful," he warned in a low voice.

Hermes picked up a box of sniper rifle bullets and handed it to Fry. "Take this ammo and give it to Turanga and Rodríguez," he instructed. "I'll stand by until all three of you are ready. There are still some women out there, so watch out, Fry."

Fry gave Hermes an army salute. "I will, Captain," he promised.

Hermes picked up a double-barreled shotgun and loaded it with shells. Fry looked at the various guns, trying to decide which one would be the most useful for him.

He settled on the anti-materiel rifle because of its high amount of firepower. He took one of the rifles and loaded it with a full magazine. He also took another magazine that was half full and kept it in case he needed more rounds.

Fry crept out of the weapons container and went over to a black delivery truck parked nearby. Peering around the front of it, he could see that there were still half a dozen Amazonians in the area. They stood around in groups of three.

Fry turned on his necrovision and checked to see if there were any parent walkers among them. Both groups had one parent.

Fry crouched down, raised his anti-materiel rifle, and stared through its scope at the group to the right. The parent, an Amazonian with long gray hair, walked away from her group and stopped to look around.

Fry focused his aim on the gray-haired Amazonian, moving the crosshairs onto the woman's head. When he was certain that it was going to be a successful shot, he pulled the trigger.

The fired round zoomed through the Amazonian's head, killing her instantly. The other two Amazonians in the group looked at their slain friend for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. They then fell down dead as well.

Fry turned his attention to the trio of Amazonians to the left of the ones he had just killed. Using his necrovision again, he saw that the parent of that group was an Amazonian with long white-blond hair.

Fry aimed his rifle at the blond-haired woman, but paused on the trigger when another Amazonian, this one with darker blond hair, walked past her, blocking his shot for a moment.

When she had passed, Fry stared through the scope again and tried to focus his aim on the fair-haired Amazonian. It was a bit difficult because another Amazonian, one with tan skin and blue hair, was standing in front of her, blocking half her body.

Fry concentrated intensely. Even so, his aim shook a bit, moving back and forth from the blue-haired Amazonian's shoulder to the blonde's head.

Fry aimed a little to the right, trying to get the blonde's head centered in the crosshairs. He let the middle dot rest on her head for a couple of seconds to make sure it would be a hit, then fired.

Just as Fry had hoped, the bullet shot through the blonde's forehead, killing her immediately. She fell lifelessly onto her back and melted into acid. Her two companions then died along with her.

Fry grinned and did a celebratory fist pump. He couldn't believe that he was taking on Amazonian nightwalkers and winning against them.

Fry got out from behind the delivery truck and quickly glanced around the area. There were no more giant women; he had killed them all.

Fry and Hermes sprinted across the clearing until they reached the containers that had been set up in an L shape. Behind them, they found Leela and Bender sitting with their backs against one of the containers. They stood up when they saw them approaching.

"Fry, you made it!" Leela exclaimed as though she couldn't believe Fry had survived up until now.

"It's about time you showed up," Bender said grumpily. "I had to listen to Eyeball telling me 'shhh, shhh' all night long."

Hermes gave Leela and Bender a pair of sniper rifles he had gotten from the weapons container, and Fry gave them the box of sniper bullets. Leela and Bender loaded the bullets into their rifles.

"Sweet zombie Jesus of Suburbia! The soldiers' command vehicle is over there!" Hermes cried, pointing at the black van parked in one corner of the clearing. "Let's take it and get out of here!"

"You usually rhyme with those euphemisms," Bender said to Hermes. "Must've lost your wit during this war. Just like a Vietnam veteran!"

"Whatever, mon," Hermes replied to Bender's insult. "I'm not fighting with you."

"When I get home I'm getting myself a Slurm and a pizza," Fry said. "Care to join me, Leela?"

"I will consider it," Leela answered.

The four of them then began to dash over to the command vehicle. But before they had even made it halfway there, two Amazonians in nightwalker form leapt down from above and landed in front of the van.

"We have to go through this again? Oh, snap!" Fry complained.

"Get a grip on yourself, mon!" Hermes snapped. "We're almost done!"

All four soldiers raised their guns and aimed them at the Amazonians. The two giant vampire women rushed at them with their superhuman agility.

Fry peered through the scope on his anti-materiel rifle and aimed it at one charging Amazonian. Being able to see her up close sent a chill down his back as he studied her frightening, inhuman features: her monstrous green eyes narrowed in fury, her deathly pale skin, her open mouth revealing long, sharp fangs, and her outstretched fingers tipped with razor-sharp claws, reaching for him.

"Abra, abra, dabra!" Fry said. He caught the woman in the crosshairs and fired his rifle at her. She uttered an inhuman scream of pain as the bullet passed through her stomach, causing her to fall down dead. "Gonna reach out and shoot ya!"

At the same time, Hermes aimed his double-barreled shotgun at an Amazonian charging at him. He waited until she got close, and fired. The blast blew her away instantly.

Another Amazonian leapt down from above and landed in the clearing. She began to charge the team, but Fry aimed his rifle at her and shot a round into her stomach. The shot killed her instantly. Her body fell backward lifelessly and hit the ground hard.

_I don't even have to aim for their heads with this gun!_ Fry thought.

As the three dead Amazonians turned to acid, two more Amazonians landed in the clearing and charged the team.

Bender aimed his sniper rifle and fired a round straight into one of the women's heads, killing her before she could even move after landing.

"Taste my bullets, bitch!" Bender cried.

Fry shot and killed the other Amazonian with a well-placed round from his rifle seconds after she began charging.

Another Amazonian jumped down from the cliff ledge high above and landed in the clearing. Fry, Leela, and Bender all aimed at her, but held their fire when she unexpectedly took a huge, superhuman leap and landed right in front of Hermes. Hermes blasted her in the stomach with his shotgun and blew her away.

Two more Amazonians leapt down from above and landed in the warzone. Leela sniped one of them, scoring a lethal headshot. The other woman took a long, high leap forward and landed in front of Hermes. Hermes gunned her down before she could attack him.

Another two Amazonians landed in the clearing. Both of them charged Fry.

Aiming carefully, Fry captured one of the women in the crosshairs of his rifle and shot her down. He then quickly aimed at the other one and blew her away as well.

One more Amazonian entered the clearing. Like the two women before her, she decided to charge Fry.

Bender and Leela each fired a sniper bullet at her. The bullets hit her in the shoulder, doing damage but failing to kill her.

Fry stared through the scope of his rifle, aimed carefully, and finished her off with a shot in the stomach.

The soldiers held their ground, waiting for more Amazonians to enter the area. After a while, it was evident that no more were coming.

Fry couldn't have been more relieved. The battle with the Amazonians was over — and he and his teammates had won it.

Fry, Leela and Bender cheered and whooped with triumph.

"Just remember who did the most work. Me! Bender!" Bender boasted.

"Sweet gritties of New York City!" Hermes exclaimed. "Now we can take their command vehicle!"

Hermes took off running toward the command vehicle. His teammates followed him, eager to take it and leave Amazonia behind forever.


End file.
